advertisers

City public Q&A session Wednesday at the State Theater

Last Updated on September 23, 2016 by cassnetwork

Mayor Dave Kitchell today encouraged Logansport residents to attend a free forum on the city’s finances. (More info here.)

The forum, which will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016 at the State Theater, will feature Eric Walsh of H.J. Umbaugh & Associates, Mishawaka. Umbaugh provides financial analysis for the city as well as Cass County government and the Logansport Community School Corporation.

Kitchell said the forum is important in explaining to local residents how much the state-mandated “circuit-breaker” property tax caps are affecting Logansport.

“The concern we have to have is that circuit-breaker impact for us is worsening,” Kitchell said. “We lost 26.4 percent of our general fund budget this year and we are projected to lose 30 percent next year unless state law somehow is changed to make up the difference.”

Most Logansport residents may not know that the city is running on approximately the same general fund budget this year as it did in 2009, Kitchell said.

“A study by the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute indicates the impact of circuit- breaker on 18 Indiana cities other than Indianapolis grew from $30 million in 2009 to $160 million last year,” Kitchell said. “At one point, the city of Muncie lost 45 percent of its general fund to the circuit-breaker, which should be alarming to most people because 70 percent of our budget here and in many communities goes to pay for police and fire protection as well as street and cemetery services.”

The mayor applauded the work Clerk-Treasurer Stacy Cox has done since taking office. Together, they have been working to reduce overhead costs and save the city money, he said.

SOURCE: News release from Logansport Mayor Dave Kitchell

Cass County Online